Trading water for carbon in the future: Effects of elevated CO₂ and warming on leaf hydraulic traits in a semiarid grassland.

ABSTRACT: The effects of climate change on plants and ecosystems are mediated by plant hydraulic traits, including interspecific and intraspecific variability of trait phenotypes. Yet, integrative and realistic studies of hydraulic traits and climate change are rare. In a semiarid grassland, we assessed the response of several plant hydraulic traits to elevated CO₂ (+200 ppm) and warming (+1.5 to 3°C; day to night). For leaves of five dominant species (three graminoids and two forbs), and in replicated plots exposed to 7 years of elevated CO₂ , warming, or ambient climate, we measured: stomatal density and size, xylem vessel size, turgor loss point, and water potential (pre-dawn). Interspecific differences in hydraulic traits were larger than intraspecific shifts induced by ele

SUBMITTER: Mueller KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9544398 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature